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Cover Story By Ethan Stewart | Thu Nov 09, 2006 | 9:00am

Fuel Your Fire

The surf industry is a beast. From the boards you ride to the clothes you wear to the movies you watch, surf culture is-for better or worse-a wet, sandy, stoke-filled monster that survives, at least in part, by feeding off material things. Without a doubt, Southern California is the global epicenter of this feast and, though S.B. is a far cry from the madness of Orange County, we contribute more than our fair share to the long list of seasonal surf-oriented offerings. What follows is a review of some of Santa Barbara’s newest surf swag goods, and with winter swells grumbling to life at this very moment in the North Pacific, there is really no better time to fuel your fires of stoke. And like all things, if you’re going to buy, you might as well buy local.

Cover Story By Martha Sadler | Thu Nov 02, 2006 | 12:00pm

Who’s on 2nd

At a recent forum, the two candidates for the 2nd District seat on the Board of Supervisors squared off on the issue of who could “play better in the sandbox.” Actually, Dan Secord said he “knows how to play nicely in the sandbox,” while Janet Wolf claimed to “play well with others.” It was the only topic on which each candidate took an unambiguous stand. Neither the moderator nor anyone from the audience asked follow-up questions on this topic, but despite the electorate’s seeming indifference, the candidates themselves brought up the issue repeatedly at subsequent forums.

Cover Story By Nick Welsh | Thu Oct 26, 2006 | 12:00am

Sheriff Showdown

The race for County Sheriff heats up as the last men standing, current Sheriff Jim Anderson faces off against Lompoc Police Chief Bill Brown shed the usual political niceties.

Best Of By D.J. Palladino | Thu Oct 19, 2006 | 12:00pm

Best of Santa Barbara Reader’s Poll, 2006

Superlatively speaking, isn’t this town the best? Not too big like that megalopolis to the south, or too teeny-tiny like the host of little villages sprinkled between Buellton and Old Cuyama. Surprisingly cultured for a town its size, with great museums, lively stages, and resounding music halls and clubs, it’s also a good place for eats, which comes as a result of its part-time job as a tourist town. We’re well-educated as well, exposed to many smart people from two colleges and a major university. It’s a land of parks and beaches and mountain trails and sunsets over red sails. But beyond all these generalizations is a town full of individuals who go to work, keep their homes nice, barbecue, and get out in the fresh air whenever they can. From those individuals we gleaned a list of voted-upon preferences in 225 categories of daily life here, in maybe a not perfect but definitely best of many possible Southern California worlds.

Cover Story By Indy Staff | Thu Oct 12, 2006 | 9:00am

The Independent’s 2006 Endorsements

Since the absentee ballot has become an increasing popular method of voting in recent years, and since those ballots are beginning to arrive in mailboxes this week, we will be publishing our recommendations to readers in a series of endorsements during the next three weeks. As has always been our policy, we will not endorse in every race, but only those in which we believe we can offer informed opinions. The most important point we want to make, whether you agree with our endorsements or not, is to encourage you to vote. For those not registered yet, you have until October 23. Information about registration can be found in the News of the Week section of the paper and on our Web site.

Arts & Entertainment By Nick Welsh | Thu Oct 05, 2006 | 12:00pm

Dear Doonesbury

We heard that Garry Trudeau, who created the politically oriented comic strip Doonesbury in 1970, doesn’t do interviews. So when The Independent was contacted by UCSB Arts & Lectures with the opportunity to interview the only comic strip writer to ever win a Pulitzer Prize, we jumped at the chance. The prescribed format? A short introduction by the writer and a few questions. The result? Read on.

Arts & Entertainment By D.J. Palladino | Thu Sep 28, 2006 | 12:00pm

Peony Dreams

Few Santa Barbarans are as cool as the Empress Palace staff, so unflappable they seem balanced on the edge of the void. Even the most seasoned among them though, such as Mark Wong and owner Su Mei Luo, get flustered when Pai Hsien-Yung visits. Early last summer, Pai came into the Hong Kong-style eatery with a group of people who were working on the monumental Chinese production of The Peony Pavilion, a nine-hour, three-day Kunqu opera that will be performed in early October at the Lobero. The usually stolid waiters clustered around Pai as though he were a rock star, asking for autographs and wanting their photos taken with the great man.

Cover Story By Nick Welsh | Thu Sep 21, 2006 | 12:00pm

Arnold Revs Up The People’s Machine

Gregarious and solidly built, Joe Mathews-a reporter for the Los Angeles Times-has spent the past three-and-a-half years as a fly on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wall. With California’s gubernatorial election just seven weeks away, Mathews’s book-The People’s Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy-is just now hitting bookstores. Mathews gives readers an enormously engaging blow-by-blow account of the recall campaign that propelled Schwarzenegger to political power and what he’s done with it in the years since.

Arts & Entertainment By Indy Staff | Thu Sep 14, 2006 | 12:00pm

Fall Arts Preview

Based on this autumn’s jam-packed arts and music schedule, it’s clear that even when summer goes away, Santa Barbara continues to play. It also means that it’s the time of year to unveil our annual Fall Arts Preview, featuring the best and brightest of the season’s cultural offerings. This time around, however, we compacted the guide into short listings-plus a handful of critic’s picks-in order to make more room for Brett Leigh Dicks’s Fall Arts feature on the upcoming 20th season of Sings Like Hell. But don’t fear, the extended events calendars are featured online at independent.com.

Cover Story By Ethan Stewart | Thu Sep 07, 2006 | 12:00pm

Growers’ Pains

On a recent Saturday morning, the action at the downtown Santa Barbara Farmers Market is absolutely dizzying. A line of cars 13 deep stacks down the block waiting to park for this paradise of produce. The sidewalk swirls with shoppers, smiling children, signature-gathering liberals, and a man with snakes offering up photo opportunities next to a nearly full bike rack. Inside, hundreds of happy people casually make their way down aisle after aisle of plump tomatoes, glistening table grapes, sprouts, cucumbers, peaches, peppers, and cherries-the sound of guitar drifting across tuber rose-scented air. The full harvest moon of fall is but a few weeks away and the dozens of family farm stands that line the aisles are showing it well, each of them pregnant with the bounty of a season’s hard work. A man and his wife-both sporting the telltale contrived casual appearance of a couple on vacation-share a laugh and a love-filled smile as they approach Lane Farms’s stand at the far end of the market.

Cover Story

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